Expectations are always high for Mount Vernon volleyball.
This fall, we’re talking Mount Everest high.
The Mustangs return all the starters from a team that finished runner-up in Class 3A in 2023.
Also, Mount Vernon added a second future Division I player in senior Sydney Maue (Arkansas). That’s in addition to senior Chloe Meester (Louisville), the Class 3A Player of the Year last season.
“Having elite-level players like Chloe and Sydney, who win club titles at the national level, it obviously gives us a unique advantage most rosters are not lucky enough to have,” Mount Vernon coach Maggie Willems said.
Willems was quick to point out the entire team returned to the high school court this fall having worked in the offseason improving their game.
Included in that group is Sydney Huber, a first-team all-state setter, and Paige Shurbon, a third-team all-state middle hitter. (Maue was a third-team all-state pick as a junior at Center Point-Urbana.)
“Like any team, we have to work on roles, and hopes and aspirations,” Willems said. “We are working to figure out how the various pieces in the gym are going to work with each other. Not just positionally, but relationship-wise.”
Also returning are senior defensive specialists Eryn Jackson and Jaden Rolland, plus junior middle hitter Cali Whitaker. And expect some growth from sophomore outside hitter Sophia Meester, senior middle hitter Olivia Haverback and sophomore defensive specialist May Schweer.
“We are solid at every position,” Willems said. “We are not just two Division I prospects and nothing else.”
In order to challenge this veteran group, the Mustangs will play in several tough weekend tournaments, including a two-day tourney Aug. 30 and 31 in Bellevue, Neb.
“It is brutal,” Willems said. “I think we are the 11th seed out of 16 teams. It is the exactly right test to keep us moving forward.”
Expect the Mustangs to be ranked No. 1 when the first IGHSAU poll is released in a few weeks (they were ranked No. 1 in the final 3A poll of 2023 and are the top team in Iowa, according to MaxPreps, regardless of class). Then Mount Vernon has a couple months before trying to finish the job at the state tournament.
Mount Vernon Volleyball
Coach: Maggie Willems (14th season, 388-157)
2023 record: 36-5, 5-0 Wamac West, first, 3A state runner-up
Returning starters (6) – Chloe Meester, sr., OH; Sydney Huber, sr., S; Eryn Jackson, sr., DS/L; Paige Schurbon, sr., MH; Jaden Rolland, sr., DS/L; Cali Whitaker, jr., MH.
Other letter-winners (3) – Olivia Haverback, sr., MH; May Schweer, so., DS/L; Sophia Meester, so., OH.